Percy Jackson and the Lost Parcel
by Macabreminion
Summary: Chapters 1-4 of my first post ever, so PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW, feedback is greatly appreciated. A mysterious delivery is made to CHB, Clarisse is "grounded" and Percy is sent questing. I'm looking for betas! I own no rights to PJ/O and give all credit to its rightful owner
1. Chapter 1

Percy Jackson and the Lost Parcel

Some time in camp half-blood had passed since Talia's resurrection with the Golden Fleece, and a certain amount of peace had fallen over them. Even if the prophecy was true, the Golden Fleece was under their control, far from the clutches of Cronus and the evils at his command. Little did they know, this was something that made their camp far less safe to inhabit, a fact that was lost on everyone except Percy. After dueling with Luke twice, he had learned to never underestimate the resolve of their enemies and the demi-titans. Days turned to weeks; weeks to months, then Chiron himself noticed a severe decline in enrollment, and a dwindling number of students returning from their vacations, and he counseled with Mr. D. "What could it mean? It's been thousands of years since the Gods have spawned so little offspring." "Perhaps word of the quest for the Golden Fleece has spread, and they feel safe at home. That's not such a bad thing you know." "Indeed …" Chiron said with a twinge of instability in his voice, "but the safest place for them is here, regardless of that fact." Dionysus attempted to pour himself yet another glass of wine, to no avail. "Maybe you could ask Zeus, and while you're at it, ask him to forgive me. Again." Chiron chuckled, tilted his head towards Olympus and stroked his lengthening beard. "Perhaps we won't have to …" The words fell from his lips with concern and awe. Something was moving across the sky, leaving streaks of black smoke in its wake. It was barreling over the lake straight towards camp-half blood with no signs of slowing. It approached the barrier and passed through it without hesitation, growing ever nearer to the ground. Campers began to notice its presence and the alarm was sounded. With a thunderous thud, and puffs of ash, the object made first contact with the ground in the middle of camp, and then continued to roll and skip off the ground toward Big House. Percy vigilantly retrieved his pen, his cursed blade from his pocket, ready for anything. He and Annabeth emerged from their cabins in unison, and made haste toward Big House as well. But that's when they noticed something strange. From where the object made first contact and all toward Big House lay hundreds of tiny parcels. Annabeth collected one, and examined it, then her eyes widened. "This can't be." Percy ran to her side with earnestness, placing a hand on the small of her back and looking over her shoulder at the package in her hands. Percy used most any excuse he could to touch Annabeth since she had died in front of him. "What…" "This package is from Zeus." Annabeth turned to look at Percy, their faces; their lips were a mere inch from each other, her round eyes gazed into his for a moment, suspending time. Percy was first to break their stare, directing it to the sender address on the package he held in his hand "… Mine too…" "We have to get to Big House." Percy shook his head in affirmation and the two made haste towards the camps administration building. Just steps outside the stone walls, they were joined by Clarisse and Grover, and what they saw was most unexpected. Coughing and singed by fire, Hermes the god of speed, was being helped to his feet by Mr. D and Chiron. Hermes placed his hands on his knees, in an attempt to catch his breath; a mostly full bag of parcels lay at his feet. "I really liked this suit" He muttered. Mr. D reached in the bag, retrieving a package, and opening it, after which he looked more confused than he had moments ago. "Why would Zeus send is this?" Still out of breath, Hermes tipped the package to see inside, "You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, rubble? I BURNED MY FAVORITE SUIT DELIVERING RUBBLE?!" Hermes was now shouting at the heavens in frustration. Clarisse scooped a package off the ground and opened it to the objections of her three friends. Upon revealing its contents, Clarisse yelped and dropped the package to the ground, drawing the attention of everyone. Even Hermes turned to look at her. "Who is that?" Hermes inquired of the two deities in charge. "Clarisse La Rue" Said Chiron with folded arms, "Half-blood daughter of…" Hermes interrupted "Aries, the god of war. Clarisse, come here, and bring that package with while you're at it." Clarisse retrieved the package from the ground and exchanged highly concerned looks with all the campers in sight. Slowly and with great caution she approached the clearly aggravated god. "Let's have a look." Clarisse outstretched her arms, and Hermes reached inside. "Now that IS weird." Hermes retrieved the piece of rubble from the box, but it was no ordinary piece of rock. Half jagged and half sculpted; half of a nose, the corner of a set of lips and one eye. This piece of rubble seemed to depict half of a face. A light roar had started amongst the campers, and to bring order despite his own confusion, Mr. D began to bark orders to the even more confused campers, "Alright kids, nothing, err well not much to see here. Search the grounds and bring all the packages you find here to Big House. Clarisse, you're dismissed." "Not so fast, I have a message for Ms. La Rue" touted Hermes. Clarisse planted an index finger in her chest, "Me, you have a message for me." "Yes, from your father. He says you're grounded." "WHAT?!" "Shouted Clarrise. "He said you would act like this, yes you are indeed grounded, and no questing for you until … whatever this is" Hermes gestured to the bag of packages" is figured out. And I did have a package addressed to you, buuuut, I dropped it." "YOU dropped it?" Inquired Clarisse, Dionysus and Chiron in unison and bewilderment. Hermes voice changed from its soft human form to booming godliness, "Look, I barely survived this delivery and I AM A GOD! The furies, Harpies and all matter of dark creatures tried to stop me. Losing one package and only one package is a victory." Hermes could see fear had been instilled in them and his message had been received, and returned the softness to his voice. "The package, however, must be retrieved. It is a part of this delivery. Good news is I know where I dropped it. It's at the bottom of Blue Marsh lake. Bad news is Scylla is guarding it. And she's not the only one, I just recognized the tentacles."


	2. Chapter 2

II

Chiron placed Clarisse in charge of inventorying the packages that were found, and to summon Percy. Hours passed and with it the number of packages mounted, higher and higher. Percy chuckled as he walked up to Big House; he had never seen Clarisse so mad in all his days at camp half-blood. Upon entering the library, Percy observed Dionysus in his usual position, and in his usual quandary; a bottle of wine in each hand. "Ah Percy, thank you for coming, but now you have to go." Percy furrowed his brow, and pivoted on his foot without ever stopping his steps, " Oooook" as Percy reached the threshold to the room Dionysus called to him, "Don't you want to know where you're going? This quest, for the lost parcel, is yours." "What lost parcel?" Chiron had entered behind Percy, making him jump slightly when he answered. "Hermes dropped one of the packages into Blue Marsh Lake." Percy's shoulders slumped, when he had heard quest he thought of an adventure more glorious than swimming to the bottom of a lake in Pennsylvania. "You shouldn't be morose about it Percy, you will have at least Scylla to contend with at the very least", Chimed Chiron. Percy's shoulders perked back up, and then his chin dropped. "Scylla? THE Scylla? As in my father's ex … lover, who was turned into a squid … thing?" Percy raised his hands and joined them together, dangling his fingers below and wiggling them about as to imitate Scylla's tentacles. "One in the same, and who better to do battle with her than the Son of the Sea? Oh, and do take Annabeth with you, because I know if you don't she will simply pester me until I let her go anyway". Percy of course had no objection to spending large amounts of time alone with the object of his affection, and having received his assignment, he left Big House for his cabin to pack for the quest.

Upon leaving the cafeteria, and after consuming copious amounts of nectar, Grover stumbled his way towards his own cabin, but was stopped in his hooved tracks by the sound of a woman sobbing; even stranger was the fact that the cries emanated from Aries camp five's lead cabin, Clarisse's cabin. With trepidation he approached, and knocked gently on the door. "GO AWAY!" the response confirmed to Grover that it was in fact Clarisse inside. Grover did not head her words, and pushed the door in slightly; peeking through the crack he had created, what he saw caused him to enter the cabin fully and close the door behind him. Clarisse was sitting on her bed under her covers, knees drawn tight to her chest, with her face buried in them. When she realized Grover had entered, her head rose to reveal her swollen red eyes and rosy cheeks covered in tears. Grover sat at the foot of her bed. "I told you to go away!" she repeated, wiping the moisture from her eyes. "Now what kind of friend would I be if I actually listened to what you said all the time?" Grover shot back. The faintest of smirks appeared on Clarisse's face. Clarisse had always had trouble accepting friendship, even before camp half-blood; but in a most vulnerable state, she couldn't help but confide in her friend. Her friend, she repeated in her mind, she felt undeserving of his friendship as she had doubted his abilities and him in general for allegiance to Percy but decided to accept it for once. "What did I do Grover?" Grover had trouble holding back laughter; after all, she had done plenty to slight him. "What do you mean? You've done a lot of things." Clarisse's hands fell to her sides with open palms, and she laid her head back against the wall. "Aries ..." Grover interrupted her, "Your dad". Clarisse rolled her eyes and continued, "My dad had never said anything to me before today, and what does he do? HE GROUNDS ME!" a look of befuddlement came across Grover's face, "He what?" Clarisse repeated herself and elaborated, "He grounded me; I'm not allowed to go on any quests." Grover's eyebrows rose in the middle, "Well that explains it." The look of frustration and sadness on Clarisse's face was immediately replaced by an inquisitive one. "Explains what?" Grover thought for a minute, unsure if he would survive answering her question. "That explains why Percy and Annabeth are getting ready to leave … on a quest." Clarisse's hands rose up over her face, "Today could not get any worse." Grover reached over, placing a hand on Clarisse's covered foot, "Don't worry, you're still a rock star around here. It probably wasn't anything you did, maybe he's just trying to keep you safe, he is your dad after all." Clarisse had never thought about it in that fashion, as the majority of her life she had spent watching out for others, being their leader. The idea that someone was trying to protect her was foreign, and hard for her to accept. Dizzy with nectar, Grover returned to his cabin, retiring for the evening.

When Morning broke all the campers, with the exception of Clarisse, gathered to give Percy and Annabeth a proper hero's sendoff; they all knew Scylla was a formidable opponent, and not the only one that stood in the way of retrieving the lost package. Tyson stood at the end of the line, with his backpack fully stocked. As Percy and Annabeth approached, he stepped out of the line blocking their path. "I'm coming with you brother." He stated with his usual confidence. "Tyson, it's going to be very dangerous, we don't know what's waiting out there for us." Without skipping a beat, Tyson responded "And so was our last quest. We are better together brother, and I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you, just like you didn't when you thought I was dead." The truth of Tyson's words struck Percy with weight. He was right, without him the quest for the Golden Fleece would have been a failure; and it didn't hurt to have someone who was fire-proof with you on a quest. Percy looked to Annabeth, and begrudgingly she shook her head in affirmation. Even the daughter of the goddess of wisdom could not refute Tyson's logic. Percy took Annabeth's hand in his, and raised them high to the cheers of the campers. The three intrepid adventurers walked through the gates, starting what would become their most perilous quest to-date.


	3. Chapter 3

Outside camp, Annabeth put her fingers to her lips and whistled as loud as she could, summoning the mystical taxi Percy hated with a passion. "Annabeth, last time we rode in this thing, we almost died. Like five times." Annabeth did her best to reassure Percy, and produced a bag of drachmas large enough to get them to Blue Marsh Lake; but what happened next was unexpected. The taxi did appear, but fell from the sky like a stone, crashing into the earth. The three eyeless fates immediately exited to cab, throwing the hood into the air, letting a plume of smoke escape. They squabbled amongst themselves for a moment until they realized where they were, and turned to face Percy and his companions. "Not you again!" "Who is it, where's our eye?" "It's squid-boy and the smartass." Annabeth crossed her arms in front of her, taking exception to the name calling. "That wasn't nice" muttered Tyson. Annabeth had lost her patience; she shook the pouch of drachma at the drivers with a condescending smile on her face. "Look, we have enough drachmas this time. So are you going to give us a ride or not?" "We can't, this thing's broken." "I told you it was time to take it to the shop you nitwit!" the fates erupted into another argument shouting and pushing each other about. Percy took it upon himself to interrupt, "How about I take a look, maybe I can fix it", and with a shrug of his shoulder, walked to the front of the dilapidated taxi. Percy looked under the hood and then ran his hand through his hair in utter confusion. Inside he saw thousands of strands of string, spinning from one spool to another. One of the fates had gone into the trunk, retrieving a ridiculously large pair of garden sheers and began to walk toward Percy. Annabeth was alarmed and ran to his side, Tyson in toe. "Woah! What are you doing?" she yelled. The fates looked at one another and chuckled. "One of these strings needs to be cut, but we don't know which one." "This has never happened, usually it's obvious, but even our eye can't tell anymore", "Maybe we need to go into the shop" Joked the tallest of the fates. "Looks like we're walking", said Percy kicking at the dirt.

Back inside camp half-blood, Clarisse's absence had not gone unnoticed. Mr. D asked the few campers still by the gates if any of them knew her whereabouts. Grover admitted to seeing her in her cabin the night before. "Well then, since you were the last person to see her, go find her." Grover scoured the common areas of the camp to no avail. She could not be found training, scouting, or even eating. Grover made his way toward Big House to tell the deities he had come up short, when he noticed the door to the camps vault, where the prizes from quests were stored, had been kicked in. Clarisse was inside, sitting in Aries' chariot. "Clarisse, what are you thinking? If Chiron or Mr. D find you in here you're going to get expelled." Clarisse let out a sigh. "I don't care, I really just don't care. I'm the best quester here, and now I'm stuck. If they kick me out at least I can track down Percy and help." Grover could see the sadness she felt had not subsided. "Mr. D wants to see you, and I can tell you're mad but maybe a trip to Big House is just what you need." Clarisse rolled her eyes at Grover. "Why? So Mr. D can hand ME a rake and tell me to clean up Percy's little parade". A mischievous smile crept over Grover's face. "Yeah, maybe. But seeing as you're bent on going places you shouldn't …" Grover's words trailed off and the smile was now displayed on Clarisse's face "… the attic." Clarisse snapped to her feet and made haste toward Big House, slipping Grover a quiet thank you as she passed. Upon her arrival, she found Big House empty; Mr D and Chiron were nowhere to be seen, so quietly she entered, climbing the stairs to the attic. Clarisse quietly closed the dusty wooden door behind her, rousing the spirit of Delphi. Candles lit with every step she took, until the keeper of prophecies eyes snapped open, glowing red. "The daughter of war, seeking answers to a legacy of which I cannot speak. Shrouded in secrecy from mine and the fates eye Zeus does keep. Head Hermes' words, or the destruction of camp half-blood, you shall reap." Delphi's eyes and the flames were then extinguished. Clarisse had not found what she was looking for. In disappointment she descended the stairs to the main floor of Big House. Mere steps from the entrance, Clarisse was startled by Mr. D, who had come inside while she was in the attic, "So what did she say?" Clarisse turned and walked into the office, slumping down to the chair on the opposite side of his desk. "Nothing helpful. Just that if I don't listen we're all going to be homeless or dead. I'm not sure which." Chiron sauntered into the room. "Well then you had better stay on task Ms. La Rue. How many packages were there?" Clarisse reached in her pocket, retrieving a folded piece of parchment. "999, all addressed to camp half-blood." Chiron looked half pleased to hear the news. Mr. D slid his fingers across the bill of lading that Hermes had provided him. "The only one that's missing is the one Percy is after." Chiron grabbed something off of the table to his right then outstretched his arm to Clarisse. "Well Ms. La Rue, you had better get to work." Puzzled, she retrieved the object from his hand. "What is this?" "That is a never-ending tube of superglue my dear. The best I can figure is the parcels each contain a piece of a statue of some sort. A statue that should be reassembled. Clarisse would have preferred the rake.


	4. Chapter 4

Having no luck with the chariot of damnation, Percy, Annabeth and Tyson had begun to walk. They had emerged from the woods hours ago and night fell as they followed the highway. Restless and tired, Percy outstretched his arm and raised his thumb at the first set of headlights the group had seen for some time. "Percy, what are you doing?" "Hitchhiking" he shot back. Tyson dawned a smile, "Good idea brother, I've actually hitchhiked a lot." "People actually picked you up?" asked Annabeth in disbelief. "Only when I had my sunglasses on and usually it was farmers who would make me sit in the back with their animals." Tyson shook his head and continued to smile. Percy attempted to diffuse Annabeth, "We only need to get to a payphone or motel, at least close enough to civilization we can actually do something other than walk. If it was important enough for Hermes himself to come to camp, I've got to think we're on some sort of clock here." Annabeth had trouble refuting his logic as the headlights glided to the side of the road behind them. Behind the wheel of the mid-nineties Toyota sat a rather fair blond woman, middle aged and pleasant; "Where ya'll headed?" she inquired of the group. "Blue Marsh Lake Pennsylvania ma'am, but we'd just be grateful for a ride to a motel, or if you could let us use your cellphone that would be amazing." Percy sounded exhausted. "Well hop in darlings, cause this thing is as dead as all get-out" Thw woman held up her smartphone and then dropped it into the center console. Annabeth still felt uneasy, but she too was growing tired, and wasn't about to make a scene or separate from Percy. Percy opened the back door for Annabeth, letting her into the vehicle. "Awww well aren't you just a sweet little gentlemen" Exclaimed the driver as group piled in. Annabeth and Percy were seated in the back, Tyson in the front. Tyson thanked the woman and then Percy made their introductions, "My name is Percy, this is Annabeth, and that's my brother Tyson. The driver looked to her right at Tyson as she pulled away from the curb, stomping on the accelerator. "You must be the cool one", she said motioning to Tyson, "I wear my suuuunglasses at night!" she sang with a chuckle. "My friends call me Edna, so ya'll can too." She responded in pleasant tone. "Ya'll better buckle up, it's the law." Click, click, click, and all three were secured in their seats. Trying to get comfortable, and closer to Percy, Annabeth stirred in her seat, wrapping her arm around Percy's and laying her head on his shoulder; and then made a frightening discovery. In Edna's hasty takeoff from the roadside, some things had slid out from beneath her seat at Annabeth's feet, where she observed something all too familiar; a bottle of Mist. Annabeth drove her elbow into Percy's ribs and nodded toward the floorboards, drawing his attention to the bottle on the floor. They exchanged a quick, concerned glance. "Where did you say you were from again?" asked Percy. "I didn't" growled the driver. Growing more concerned, an emboldened Annabeth asked, "That's a lovely perfume you're wearing, what's it called?" Edna peered up into the rearview mirror and pursed her lips; then she locked the doors. "Smart girl" she blurted. Rather abruptly, a serpent's tail wrapped around Tyson's unwitting neck, smashing his face into the dashboard rendering him unconscious. " My friends call me Edna … ya'll aint really my friends. My full name is Echidna." The Driver's sweet southern accent disappeared. "You know the niece of Medusa, the woman you decapitated. We are going to Blue Marsh Lake, where you will all die, but hopefully not before me and Scylla get a chance to torture you." Echidna then pulled a bottle from her glove box and sprayed Percy and Annabeth in the face as they frantically pawed at the latches of their belts and the rear door handles. They looked into each other's eyes with helplessness; their vision blurred and then closed in, they were sent into a deep sleep by whatever the vengeful monster had sprayed on them.

Grover awoke back in camp to a pounding on his door; a pounding so loud he thought whoever produced it might simply put their fist through the door. Startled and stumbling he rolled out of bed and opened the portal to the outside world. No sooner had he unlatched it, Clarisse came barging in. "I need your help." Grover rubbed his eyes, and then slapped himself, "Did you just ..." Clarisse was in no mood, "Tell anyone I asked and I will drag you to the sea of monsters and feed you to Charybdis myself." Sitting back on his bed, Grover slumped his shoulders and shook his head in an attempt to wake himself. "Help with what?" Clarisse grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door, "A thousand piece 3-D puzzle with no box or picture to work off." Outside Grover's cabin was the usual hustle and bustle of camp half-blood. Being dragged through the crowd, Grover asked, "What puzzle exactly, I mean I can't imagine you going from defeating Cronus, with PERCY'S help of course, to doing puzzles." Clarisse rolled her eyes without breaking step or missing a beat. "Look, Chiron and Mr. D seem to think all the rubble in the boxes Hermes delivered was a statue, that they want put back together. So you're going to help me." The pair continued to the front garden of Big House where Clarisse had inventoried the packages. Altogether, in the boxes, the packages formed a rectangle, about eight feet long , four feet wide, and four feet high. Both Clarisse and Grover crossed their arms. Turning to Clarisse, Grover asked, "Ok, so where do we start?" Clarisse dropped reached to her back drawing her sword. "Do you see this? I fight. I have no clue". Replacing her sword, Grover interjected, "I guess we start like any other puzzle. Empty the boxs, find the corner pieces, and go from there." Clarisse's lips rose in the middle toward the bottom of her nose, the corners tilted down, and she cocked her head toward Grover, as if to say "good idea" without a word. Both drew their daggers and began ripping into the pile of boxes. Clarisse and Grover spent the rest of the day opening the boxes, and placing their contents in to piles; separating them, sculpted pieces in one area and the ones with jagged edges, the center pieces, into a pile. When they finished night had fallen again, both looked pleased with their work, but slightly determined. There were far more pieces with rough edges, this would not be an easy puzzle to assemble.


End file.
